Taking a Girl Scout Troop to Disney

I'm planning a trip for my GS troop next June. I've just been searching for group/YES planning advice on all the different Disney forums, and I've been surprised at how little there is. I wish there was a sub-forum for large group planning!

Anyway, I guess I just need to post various questions under whatever section seems the most closely related...

There will be 20-30 of us, staying at a Disney Resort. And that's about all the planning we've done so far!!

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Disney does have Girl Scout programming. They even had a booth at the National Convention. Go to www.disneyyouth.com for info. I did a quick google search and there is also info at www.gsusa.com. I believe that they have special pricing. If I can find any of the info from Houston's convention, I will let you know.
Have fun! My troop is doing an EF tour to Europe in 2015.

Well, I'm not finding a lot of answers on any of the forums or on the Disney YES website. I've sent them some emails with questions; we'll see if I get responses that make sense. I hate to have to call them to ask questions, because I know they'll want to know things like "when are you coming" and how many people" - things I don't have answers for yet.

Some of the questions I've asked are about taking different ages to the YES classes - can I split them up (thus having less than 10 girls in a class) or do I need to be looking for a class that is for all ages? Also, they have a GS event, but it sounds basically the same as the regular YES, only with less selection. So I've asked about any differences.

My third question is about dining, which they don't mention anywhere on the YES website until you get to the page where you buy the tickets. They offer dining vouchers and a dining card (which looks like it might be like a dining prepaid card.) So I've asked them for more info about these options to help me decide which might work better for my group.

At any rate, I'll try to come back here and post some of the things I learn, so maybe it will help someone in the future. Unless there's a better place in these forums for me to do this...

May Girl scout troop is planning a disney trip for June 2014. We are in full fledged fund raising. I have 7 girls in my troop. We are a cadette troop with my girls heading into High school next year. we are very excited. Any fund raising ideas are welcome
Cindy

Got back a few weeks ago, and the girls had a wonderful trip. I'd be glad to answer any questions.

We went with the Girls Unite event, and got a great deal on tickets and the resort. I decided to get the dining cards instead of vouchers, because I had a lot of girls who I knew wouldn't eat a whole meal. We did $30 a day because I figured that would cover the basics, if they needed to eat more they could pay out of pocket. I was surprised by how many of them still had money left over when the trip was over.

I'm planning a trip for my GS troop next June. I've just been searching for group/YES planning advice on all the different Disney forums, and I've been surprised at how little there is. I wish there was a sub-forum for large group planning!

Anyway, I guess I just need to post various questions under whatever section seems the most closely related...

There will be 20-30 of us, staying at a Disney Resort. And that's about all the planning we've done so far!!

JoAnne

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I am sooo with you--I was looking for a forum for the same thing!! I wish they would add a subforum for group planning as I am in the same situation (wanting to plan for a school group)

I hate to say it, because I always want to know all the answers before I call or email someone, so I know what I'm getting into. But for Disney, it really is easiest to just contact someone in the YES department. They were all great about answering my many STUPID questions.

Sorry hit send by mistake...27 girls to Disneyland CA.. We are working with the YES program for the workshops. The group rate for tickets are good but not great. And there are no "magical extras" Like magic mornings with a group rate ticket. I guess they figure your magic is the reduced ticket price. We might just book the workshops with YES and hotel/tickets with AAA or Costco. Would love to hear from others about their troop experiences with YES and DL. Good and Bad!

You all are making me feel old. I was a Leader for over 25 years with a number of troups and have taken 3 different groups to Disney World. My first group was 30 years ago and all there was was Magic Kindgom and Epcot. We stayed at the camp grounds and I let the girls to all the planning but using the maps that I picked up the prior trip.

We stayed in a Disney resort, and that's what gave us our magic mornings and evenings. But I know Disneyland does quite a few things differently than Disney World.

I had 48 people, and I didn't want to try to figure out to get them to and from the parks everyday. Especially since I knew it would be hot in the afternoon and some of them would want to swim or nap. By staying at Disney, they could all take care of themselves and travel on Disney transport. Much less work for me.

My family (from Texas) has traveled to WDW often, and participated as a family in the 2013 Girls Unite Program. While there, I chatted with a few other moms about how THEY do Disney, checked out some WDW trips on other Council websites and decided to put one together for my Troop.

We have opted to NOT include airfare, as we have some people who work for airlines, other who wish to use miles, other who wish to drive, etc. We also have a few families who are staying beyond our trip dates for an extended family vacation.

We will be arriving in Florida and staying on property for 5 nights. This will be a Family Trip. (I will not be escorting the kids by myself. Each child will be under that care and control of atleast one parent or adult. We have some mother/daughter travelers and others are full families.)

We have taken advantage of the Youth Education Program to get discounted tickets, but was not thrilled with the resort and dining options (or lack there of). (My family has always like the Dining Plan and I think it makes it much easier for families, with one less thing to worry about.) The problem I encountered was that to get the DINING plan, we have to purchase a resort stay AND park tickets. This would negate the discount we were getting on Park Tickets through the YES program.

I am working with an agent who specializes in Disney trips. She reminded us that CONVENTION/Small Group ATTENDEES do NOT have to purchase park tickets to get the Dining Plan, as long as we are staying on property and have a minimum of 10 rooms. We can choose our resort (and are not limited to the "Value Resorts"), still get Magic Express, Extra Magic Hours, etc. We have, essentially, split ourselves into two groups. We are a Youth Education Group (for tickets and education class purposes) and a Small Group/Convention for the resort and dining portion of our trip. Each ROOM is allowed to choose the Dining Plan level they would prefer (I have only given them the option between Standard and Deluxe Dining). We have also planned a private dessert/Fireworks party, and two education classes. We opted for Park Hopper Passes for everyone and have selected the Coronado Springs Resort (Pretty, but moderate resort...Convention Hotel...so availability was not a problem).

With an occupancy of 4 to a room (all aged 10+ years old), the trip with (6) Day Park Hopper Tickets, 5 night at Coronado Springs Hotel, Standard Disney Dining Plan, Two YES Program classes, Magic Express Transportation to and from Orlando International Airport, all Park Transportation, Private Dessert/ Fireworks Party and Resort Refillable Mug is running right around $800 per person. (If you have fewer people in a room, the prices increases slightly.)

I saw a similar trip for the Girls Unite Program last year out of a Colorado Council that was running about $1500 per person. While theirs DID include airfare, I thought that I did pretty well at about $700 less, even if you account for airfare.

If anyone wants details or information (or if anyone is interested in tagging along), please feel free to PM me. We are getting ready to start making Dining Reservations for our trip as we are nearing the 180 mark. Everyone is getting excited.

Thanks for sharing the info about your upcoming trip. I wish I'd known about the convention thing before the trip my troop did. But we still had an amazing trip, and more than enough to eat even though we did the dining cards instead of a meal plan. Maybe this info will help another troop/group going to Disney.